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Low Thia Khiang kena bought over?

If you haven’t heard, Mr Low sounded like he got bought over by the PAP at Parliament yesterday.

He was singing praises of the PAP government on their proposal for the Budget this year, with select quotes like:

“I appreciate the Government’s vision statements and the articulation of how Singapore should strategically position itself in the new era”

“A forward-looking budget to anchor Singapore firmly in the future and for the future”.

‘The Budget, accurately identifies the shifting economic weight to Asia and the emergence of new technologies as major international trends that “would change the world for our children”’.

It looked like at that moment he forgot that he was part of the opposition in Singapore. (Eh hello brudda, you forgot your shirt not white ah?) But Mr Low recovered, by quickly nit-picking at the timing of the GST hike.

He said that he felt that the Budget is “looking forward too hastily for future revenue streams” by announcing the GST hike prematurely, noting this to be a “real distraction, causing the Government to lose its focus on getting buy-in for the vision because it has to explain the future GST hike”.

Minister for Education Ng Chee Meng then buay tahan liao, decided to stand up to respond.

He pointed out that the WP MPs have agreed with the proposals that the Government has proposed, but when it comes to talking about funding these projects, WP MPs called it “a distraction”.

Mr Low then explained, and said “is it better to announce it separately and debate it here or the budget”.

Minister Ng then told Mr Low, that he “can’t have his cake and eat it”, and went on to quote Mr Low’s 2017 COS speech:

“I hope he – meaning the Minister of Finance – can be upfront with Singaporeans now so that they are not blindsided by the Government as they were with the sudden 30 per cent increase in water prices’”

Mr Low said that he did not say that the Government should “hide the intended increase in GST”.

“By all means announce it well before you increase. It’s good to announce it before-hand. But the question is whether or not you need to announce it with this Budget – that is another issue.”

Mr Low then ended the exchange by saying that this hike could be debated during the election rallies. Jeng jeng jeng!!!

We will leave it here for you to decide if you think this is a mic drop moment, or ball drop moment. For a moment our popcorn also drop yo!